Supporting your child to make the most of their revision time… Years 11, 12 and 13 Exam Preparation Evening What is revision? Mr S Williams – Director of Learning KS4 I’m a parent... get me out of here! Ms L Williams – Post-16 Progress Leader Revision: planning (not cramming) Ms J Laity – KS4 Interventions Coordinator Revision techniques Ms A Davies – Director of Learning KS5

Year 11: Usually around half term at the end of May Years 12 and 13: Lessons until their exam for each subject Year 12 students return to start A2 courses after half term at the beginning of June Study Leave

To review (previously studied materials) in preparation for an examination – REVISITING Examination/Revision fear (or phobia) Distraction / Inertia! What is Revision?

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I’m a parent… get me out of here!

Creating good conditions to study in can help the revising process. Where to study

They need a quiet place to study, sitting comfortably. The desk should be well lit. Background noise kept to a minimum. Avoid studying in an area where there will be distractions (like television!) There will always be distractions!

Equipment

Good study environments away from home!

SLEEP and exercise!

Healthy diet, active mind!

When your son/daughter has revised well – reward them

Encourage responsibility Talk about it Encourage and praise Be there You can help…

Revision: planning (not cramming!) Understanding how to make the most of the time available…

Learning is much more effective when spaced out over stretches of time. Professor Stafford, researcher in Psychology at Sheffield University, examined how more than 850,000 people from all over the world improved skills playing an online game. “Cramming for long intense stretches ahead of a test might feel like more is being learned”, says Professor Stafford, “but this is illusory. A better way of revising or learning is to plan over a much longer period, with substantial breaks between study sessions.”

Our memories are phenomenal.

What do students need to be doing now? They should ensure they: Check their class notes are complete, particularly if there have been absences. Know which exam board and specification they are following for each of their subjects. This allows students to find the correct online past papers. Understand the structure of the exam: how many questions they will need to answer and how to allocate their time to each question. Understand exactly which skills each question is assessing. Look carefully at their timetable, and know when, and in what order, their exams are taking place.

Students will receive their individual timetables over the next couple of weeks. Please note the Year 11 Practice Exam timetable

What do students need to be doing now? - Year 11 Practice Exams begin Thursday 13 th March. - Year 12 and 13 students can expect their teachers to set regular practice exam questions between now and their Summer exams. Students should ensure they: Make a revision plan as early as possible.

The revision plan Make a list of the topics that need to be revised for each subject. This is now the ‘Revision Checklist’. Break each topic on the revision checklist down into smaller pieces that can be revised in hourly sessions (with a break to stretch your legs every 30 minutes). You need to be realistic about the time available…

Work out the available hours in the week

Put in your social plans, rewards + mealtimes Gym Film night Lunch Lie in Lie in Tennis Piano Hair- dressers Breakfast Visit Sarah Clarinet See Gran 7 hours a day x 7 = 49 hours a week

Divide your subjects into the total Gym Film night Lunch Lie in Lie in Tennis Piano Hair- dressers Breakfast Visit Sarah Clarinet See Gran 7 hours a day x 7 = 49 hours a week French16 Maths16 Psychology17 TOTAL =49

Change the weighting to reflect your priorities Gym Film night Lunch Lie in Lie in Tennis Piano Hair- dressers Breakfast Visit Sarah Clarinet See Gran 7 hours a day x 7 = 49 hours a week French12 Maths23 Psychology14 TOTAL =49

Spread the first subject out through the week Gym Film night Lunch Lie in Lie in Tennis Piano Hair- dressers Breakfast Visit Sarah Clarinet See Gran French = 12 French

Add your second subject Gym Film night Lunch Lie in Lie in Tennis Piano Hair- dressers Breakfast Visit Sarah Clarinet See Gran Psychology = 14 French Psych.

Add your final subject Gym Film night Lunch Lie in Lie in Tennis Piano Hair- dressers Breakfast Visit Sarah Clarinet See Gran Maths =23 French Psych. Maths This should be seen as a ‘working’ document.

Revision Techniques

How to revise There is no right way to revise Everyone is different Try different methods to find out what is best for you

Revise?!?! Try and divide your revision into three different phases: “Prepare It!” - where you get all your stuff organised “Learn It!” - where you do things which will help you to remember what you need to know “Test It!”- where you find out what you know and what you need to revise again. It’s always best to use a range of different ways to revise – sitting on your bed reading through your books is not enough!

Use Revision Checklists or Syllabuses for each subject as a starting point. Look at what you need to know and try to identify any gaps in your knowledge. They can be easily found online or your teacher can get them for you.

Audit yourself!

A common mistake: People often spend more time revising for things they are good at instead of revising for things they find difficult.

Read This is important in some subjects where a depth of knowledge or interpretations are important such as History or English. It’s important that you take clear, concise notes from what you read! School Revision booklets are available from teachers and/or Revision guides on Amazon

Make posters of key notes, facts and equations and stick them around the house where you can see them.

Reduce/ condense your notes! Step 1 – start BIG (A3) Step 2 – reduce/condense (A4) Step 3 – reduce again (revision cards)

Record yourself reading notes to listen to. Most iPod touch and iPhones have a free voice recording software and there are so many free online programmes like ‘audacity’ Just type voice recorder into Google. The creative amongst you could create a song of your notes! Or a play list with you speaking over the top. This techniques is very helpful for MFL.

Create memory aids such as diagrams or mind maps There are loads of free online mind mapping tools

Order of colours in the rainbow, or visual spectrum: (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. Order of taxonomy in Biology: (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach. Create memory aids such as mnemonics Type ‘mnemonic generator’ into Google

Timelines, key words, key equations can all be learned easily by using this method.

Turn your huge amount of revision notes into small and easy to handle revision cards. Even better….. Put a question on the front of your card and the answer on the back (in note form). Get a parent, sibling or friend to test you!

Collaboration Study with a friend or a parent and test each other’s knowledge, but remember you are meeting to revise rather than to chat! I have seen facetime work very well for students who are revising from their own study areas.

You can get these online or from your teachers. You can also download mark schemes to give you the answers and examiners’ reports which point out common errors. Do exam questions and papers under timed conditions